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NCAA MEN'S 1ST AND 2ND ROUNDS: HARTFORD

March 20, 2019

Matt McMahon

Hartford, Connecticut

COACH MATT MCMAHON: Thank you. Excited to be here. I have a lot of respect for a very good Marquette team we'll see tomorrow. Our guys have had a long layoff here, 11 days now. But they're excited to get back on the court and play tomorrow.

Q. You guys have been really good defending the three-pointer. You are a really good shooting team. What do you guys think you need to do to defend against Marquette's three-point attack?
COACH MATT MCMAHON: I think it's a critical part of tomorrow's game. I think they're better than good from behind the three-point arch making almost 10 in a game. I think ninth in the country from a percentage standpoint. Not only Howard's ability to create his own and shoot from well beyond the NBA three. But they have guys at 6'8" in multiple positions who shoot it well.

So it really puts a lot of pressure on your defense to be very solid and fundamentally sound. I think it's going to be a great challenge for us tomorrow.

Q. Coach, without giving away too many details, general offensive strategy against Howard and their offense this?
COACH MATT MCMAHON: To play extremely hard. Try and make the shots as difficult as we can. He's going to score. I think you look at some of the key stats from him, it's not only his ability to shoot from the three and create his own. His ability to get to the free-thrown line is a key stat. I think he took 24 free-throws in his last game, so I think that's important as well.

Q. I was curious, obviously guys like Markus Howard, Ja Morant, from an average standpoint, they're probably going to get theirs. What do you expect to be the X-factors and how you take care of them from a defensive stand point?
COACH MATT MCMAHON: I think both teams -- and I can't speak for Marquette. I think both teams have star players that get a lot of attention. They both have good teams. We both have balance, multiple double-figure scorers. I think everything's important.

You look at things like Ed Morrow having 17 offensive rebounds in the last three games, key stats like that. I think will be of importance. Who wins the turnover battle, and on down the line. I think, for us to beat a team of their quality, we'll have to play exceptionally well both ends of the floor.

Q. You know, you have two good defenders in Ja and Shaq on the perimeter. Without divulging too much of the game plan, are you going to throw both of those guys on Markus Howard a little bit?
COACH MATT MCMAHON: I'm not sure how we'll match up yet. But it's not only Markus Howard. Hauser's ability at 6'8". His efficiency numbers are off the charts, averaging 15 a game and doing it at a high level. And his ability to shoot the three as well and his explosive drives to the basket.

One of our strengths this year has certainly been our perimeter defense and it will have to be really, really good tomorrow.

Q. You were a player and coach at App State for so long, late '90s, early 2000s. Steve Wojciechowski was a player at Duke at the same time. I am curious did you ever cross paths? Did you have a relationship with him?
COACH MATT MCMAHON: No, we did not. He is a much better player than I ever was.

Q. Coach, talk a little bit about the success that the Murray State program's had in developing guards through the last few years that have been able to go on and have success, after college level?
COACH MATT MCMAHON: Thanks, Kenny. I think it starts with recruiting. We've been very fortunate to recruit some talented players from great families who have come in and have been about the right things. They put in a lot of hard work. Our coaching staff invests a lot of time in the player development aspect of the program. And when the time comes for Ja to be drafted, he'll be the third point guard since 2012 to be drafted into the NBA in the top 35. And there are only two schools in the country that can stay that, Murray State and the University of Kentucky.

So we've just been fortunate to get great players like Ja Morant, and then when he gets to Murray State he just keeps getting better, because he's about the right things.

Q. For those people who haven't seen him, what makes Ja such a great player?
COACH MATT MCMAHON: He's a combination of a lot of great things. Number one, athletically, and from an explosiveness standpoint, he is elite. And then on the basketball side of things, phenomenal understanding and IQ for the game. He's got great court vision. He sees things develop before anyone else on the floor and then the intangible type things you combine with those traits such as his unselfishness, his competitiveness, his drive to win. You combine all of those things into one and you get this once in a lifetime player and that's what he is.

THE MODERATOR: Coach, is he the National Player of the Year?

COACH MATT MCMAHON: I don't get caught up in all of that. I think it's a great honor that in the past couple of days he's been named one of the four finalists for the Oscar Robinson National Player of the Year as well as the Naismith Player of the Year. He's certainly well deserving. He's had a historic season. I looked the other day. There's 16 players with that have had a game of 24 points and 10 assists this year; 16 out the entire country did it one time. That's what he averaged this season. So he's had a magical year and is very deserving of all of the awards that come his way.

Q. Coach, of all of the different statistics in this game going into it, both teams really rebound the basketball differently, but exceptionally well. How do you guys plan on attacking the glass knowing they have such a rebounding margin like you guys do?
COACH MATT MCMAHON: I think it's hard to just lock in on one stat and say that's going to determine the game. I think for us, we know we'll have to play a complete game. There's a reason Marquette's been a top 15-team all season long, because they're very good in all areas. I think their offense gets a lot of the attention, but if you go through the defensive efficiency numbers, they're very, very good there. So we'll have to play a complete game at both ends of the floor.

Q. Coach, for the first time in 20 years, Murray State's been to the NCAA Tournament back-to-back years. What do you credit that beyond having good players that enabled Murray State to rise to the top in the Ohio Valley?
COACH MATT MCMAHON: Well, it's a great accomplishment for our team and our program especially to do something that hadn't happened in 20 years in our league. But we never talked about it one time until we were cutting down the nets after beating Belmont Saturday. I think it starts with the players you recruit, not only their ability and their, talent but what they're about. When we brought in guys like Ja Morant, Shaq Buchanan, Anthony Smith, Tevin Brown, those guys are winners, not only on the court, but off. It created a culture in our locker room of unselfishness, toughness, relentless, competitive drive to win.

And I think Ja, Shaq, they take great pride in the fact they're 53-10 in two seasons at Murray State, that they have two back-to-back regular season championships and two back-to-back OVC championships and two back-to-back appearances in the big dance. It's really a credit to them.

Obviously I have three great assistant coaches. Shane Nichols, Tim Kaine, Casey Long, have done a incredible job of recruiting, player development, game preparation, recruiting, building the culture of our locker room. I can go down the line. They've been fantastic.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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